For many years, the Toronto Raptors were an afterthought, an expansion team north of the border seemingly destined to toil in mediocrity and irrelevance. From 1995 until 2013, the Raptors lacked a clear organizational vision and suffered numerous playoff-less seasons to go with some acrimonious cases involving player relations.
Sure, there were quite a few good players to don the purple and red – Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, and others come to mind – but these figures all came during a time when the front office was unprepared to translate individual greatness into team success.